Thursday, July 2, 2009

The Department of Health will now be looking into a private school after finding out that 42 students there showed flu-like symptoms but the school did not contact DOH and preferred the cases be tested in a private hospital. DOH spokesperson Dr. Cora Lou Kintanar said that they will be looking into the issue since they see two concerns regarding the matter. First, the school did not contact them and second is that they had the tests for Influenza A(H1N1) taken in a private hospital that is not accredited to make Polymerase Chain Reaction tests.

Bowing to pressure from lawmakers, government regulators were finalizing on Thursday new rules requiring mobile phone companies to treble the shelf life of prepaid credits amid persistent complaints of "vanishing load" from consumers. According to the new scheme, credits of P10 to P20 will be valid for seven days; over P20 to P30 for 10 days; over P30 to P40 for 14 days; over P40 to P50 for 17 days; over P50 toP60 for 20 days; over P60 to P70 for 24 days; over P70 to P80 for 21 days; over P80 to P100 for 30 days; over Pl00 to Pl50 for 45 days; over Pl50 to P200 for 60 days; over P200 to P300 for 90 days; and over P300 to P600 for 150 days.

A consumer watchdog group has filed a class suit against the country's leading telecommunication firms, seeking redress for alleged consumer grievances such as vanishing cellular loads, illegal charges and service inefficiencies.

Former president Corazon Aquino remains conscious, her will to fight colon cancer still "very strong," her youngest daughter said Thursday night. The Aquinos said they have faith in "God's infinite healing power." Aquino's hospitalization was "necessary" because of loss of appetite, which was caused by "fluid build-up in her stomach area."

Malacañang on Thursday denied that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had close ties with the Filipino firm that placed the country's election automation in doubt when it suddenly withdrew from a consortium that won in the bidding for the P7.2-billion contract.

On the eve of the deadline imposed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), Malacañang appealed Thursday to the feuding partners in a consortium that bagged the P11.3-billion poll automation contract to resolve their differences.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) legal chief Ferdinand Rafanan said Thursday that the country sticking with the manual poll system is still remote as he assured that automating the 2010 elections is still the poll body's top priority.

Backing out of a government project after it has been awarded to a winning bidder makes the supplier criminally liable and open to imprisonment of six to 15 years, Justice Secretary Agnes Devandera said on Thursday.

The possible failure of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to computerize the 2010 elections would be a big setback to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's much hyped 10-point agenda laid out in her State of the Nation Address in 2004, an ally in the House of Representatives said.

United States Ambassador Kristie Kenney said Thursday that Washington would like to see the conduct of fair, honest and peaceful elections with rapid results in the Philippines in May 2010, regardless of whether an automated or manual system of counting votes will be used.

Less than a year before the 2010 elections, the Philippine National Police has already identified election "hot spots" where violence is expected to be prevalent because of intense political rivalries and private armies. Director General Jesus Verzosa named the areas as the provinces of Sulu, Abra, Nueva Ecija, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, and Maguindanao.

The bomb scare in the capital and the rumored early changing of the guard in the military are part of a "grand plan" to create an impression of "widespread dissent" among the people, the military said.

The president and owner of Inress Review Center who allegedly leaked questions in the 2006 nursing licensure examination may now face up to the consequences of his actions after the Court of Appeals dismissed his appeal Thursday.

The Department of Justice has suspended the preliminary investigation of the criminal charges for estafa against the owner of the beleaguered Legacy Group of Companies because of the failure of the complainants to pay the required filing fees.

The court yesterday dismissed one of the robbery cases filed against Joel Sumabong and his pal Efren Beladas because of the failure of the prosecution to positively identify them as the culprits in the 2007 robbery of a cooperative in Talamban.

In line with the celebration of the Blood Donor's Month, outstanding local executives and local government units that have actively supported and implemented blood donation campaigns of the Department of Health's Regional Blood Center will be recognized this July 9 during the 11th National Sandugo Awarding ceremonies.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and United States President Barack Obama are expected to have a one-on-one meeting in Washington before the end of the year, US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney said on Thursday.

The government on Thursday said it wanted a broader global monetary system days before President Hu Jintao was set to leave for the G8 summit, during which the issue of a new reserve currency could be raised.

Serena Williams reached her fifth Wimbledon final Thursday with an epic 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, 8-6 win over Elena Dementieva where she saved a match point in the longest semi-final in the tournament's history.

A Filipino is one of the members of Spain's top military force securing King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia. Twenty-five years old Benson Reyes has been with the Royal Guard of Spain for seven years now.

Reyes was born and raised in Caloocan.

He is the only Filipino out of the 1,500 elite Royal Guard. The Royal Guard is tagged as the last line of defense of the military in Spain.